The Bellwood-Antis baseball team traveled to West Branch for their first game on the road on Wednesday.
The Blue Devils were limited to just three hits by a pair of West Branch pitchers in a 10-2 win for the Warriors.
With the aid of seven walks, Bellwood-Antis had the Warriors stepping lively in every inning, but doubleplays and an inability by the Blue Devils to come through with clutch hits contributed to what has now become an alarming three-game losing streak for Bellwood-Antis under head coach Steve Conlon.
B-A started off with a flash, but West Branch turned the Blue Devils away without a run and things went downhill from there. Josh Kleinfelter started the inning with a walk and took off for second base. Andy Brisbin lined a shot that appeared to have extra bases written all over it. West Branch centerfielder Teddy Little somehow ran it down when it appeared the ball would go over his head, and fired a perfect strike to first base to double up Kleinfelter. Chris Alley singled and Fred Dorman walked, but the Blue Devils came away with nothing on the scoreboard.
Adam DeArmitt slugged a pitch from West Branch starter Kevin Hubler over the centerfield fence for the Blue Devils’ first run with two outs in the second inning to give B-A a 1-0 lead.
Brandon Beech opened the inning by drawing a walk, but was eliminated when Tyler McClellan slapped a hard bouncer that West Branch turned into one of three doubleplays during the ballgame by the Warrior defense, leaving the bases empty for DeArmitt’s dinger.
After West Branch turned the game on one pitch, a grand slam home run by Coty Peters in the bottom of the third, and then added four more tallies, three of them unearned in the fourth, Bellwood-Antis came back to score once more in the fifth inning. Will Christensen doubled and Alley walked two batters to load the bases with two outs for Peters.
DeArmitt walked to begin the fifth, and was forced at second by Blue Devil shortstop Brian Hostler. Josh Kleinfelter drew the second of three walks for the B-A leadoff hitter in the game. Andy Brisbin also walked, the last of seven by Hubler, to load the bases and the West Branch manager went to his bullpen. Teddy Little, came in from center field to take over on the mound. Ernie Kelley scored Hostler from third with an RBI groundout, but Little restricted the damage to just that one tally. Little fanned four and walked a pair in stopping the Blue Devils over the final two and 2/3 innings on no hits and no runs to insure the victory and pick up a save.
Throughout the streak, a lack of defense and pitching has spelled defeat with a capital “D.” Coach Conlon didn’t have many words to offer after the game, but did suggest a revamping of the lineup as a distinct possibility.
Alley had two of the Blue Devils three hits, but was forced to leave with a sore arm and the remainder of the Bellwood-Antis lineup contributed a grand total of one other base hit-DeArmitt’s home run.
Dylan Viehdorfer had a two-run double and two-run homer for West Branch to match Peters with four RBI to lead the Warriors.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier for a while for Bellwood-Antis. The Blue Devils host always tough Bellefonte on Friday, weather permitting and then play Central and coach Dave Hoenstine, who just won his 200th game at Central earlier this week, at home at 12 noon on Saturday.
West Branch 10 Bellwood-Antis 2
Bellwood-Antis – Kleinfelter, lf, 1-0-0; Brisbin, 2b, 3-0-0; Alley, p, 2-0-2; Kelley, 1b-rf, 2-0-0 Winterstein, c, 0-0-0; Coho, 1b, 0-0-0; Dorman, dh , 2-0-0; Seidel, rf, 2-0-0; Brunner rf-c, 0-0-0; Beech, 3b, 2-0-0; McClellan, 1b-p, 2-0-0; DeArmitt, cf, 2-1-1; Hostler, ss, 1-1-0; Drost, ph, 1-0-0. TOTALS 20-2-3.
West Branch – Little, cf-p, 4-0-0; Moslak, c, 3-1-2; Demchak, cr, 0-1-0; Luzier, ss, 4-2-1; Husted, lf 0-0-0; Viehdorfer, dh, 3-2-2; Peters, 1b-cf, 4-2-1; Gaines, 3b, 4-0-1; Hubler, p-1b, 2-0-0; Bloom, cr, 0-0-0; Shive, 2b, 2-0-0; Quick, 2b, 1-0-0; Christensen, rf, 3-2-2. TOTALS 29-10-9.
Bellwood-Antis 010 010 0 2-3-4.
West Branch 004 402 X 10-9-0.
2B: Viehdorfer 1, Christensen 1.
HR: DeArmitt 1, Peters 1, Viehdorfer 1.
RBI: DeArmitt 1, Kelley 1, Viehdorfer 4, Peters 4, Gaines 1, Moslak 1.
SO: McClellan 2, Hubler 1, Little 4.
BB: Alley 3, Hubler 7, Little 2.
WP: Hubler LP: Alley. Save: Little
